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Friday 21 January 2005

The World Today is a comprehensive current affairs program which backgrounds, analyses, interprets and encourages debate on events and issues of interest and importance to all Australians. Below is the program summary with links to transcripts and audio (if available).

Bush sworn in to second term

In Washington, in a series of lavish functions today, George W. Bush was sworn into his second term as president.

Detail scarce in Bush speech

The President's speech was emotional and big on symbolism, but there was little in the way of specific policies or actions set out for the four years ahead. Professor Stephen Wayne from Georgetown University in Washington has been President-watching for more than three decades and has written a number of books on the subject, and he spoke to The World Today.

Habib release hits snag

The Australian Government is facing fresh criticism about the treatment of Guantanamo Bay detainee Mamdouh Habib, after reports that the US has demanded that he be shackled during his trip home. The Attorney General Phillip Ruddock says the shackling of Mr Habib is quote "not part of the plan", although he has not ruled it out entirely. Mr Ruddock has also confirmed that Australia will comply with one US demand that Mr Habib does not fly over American airspace on his way home. The lawyer for the Habib family says the continuing delay of Mr Habib's return equates to a further breach in his rights, claiming both the US and Australian Governments are to blame.

Gillard urged to lead ALP

Kevin Rudd is remaining tight-lipped about his aspirations for the Labor leadership. The Shadow Foreign Minister has just arrived back in Australia after visiting Indonesia's tsunami-ravaged Aceh province, and he says he needs a bit more time to gauge the level of support before stating his intentions. Mr Rudd says he wants to spend the next couple of days talking to his fellow MP's about his prospects. At the same time Julia Gillard's supporters have started going public, actively encouraging her to put her name forward and become Labor's first female federal leader. Frontbencher Stephen Smith, meanwhile, has ruled himself out of the race.

Reactor approval could follow waste deal

First the Howard Government floated a plan for an offshore solution to the tricky political problem of where to site a nuclear waste dump. Now comes the news that Australia has clinched a deal to export radio waste to the United States. According to the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, ANSTO, the agreement to send spent fuel rods to the US, will help it obtain regulatory approval to build a new reactor at Lucas Heights, in Sydney's southwest.

Bleak outlook for Russian orphans

Now to our series about Russia's children, and in the final instalment we look at what the future might hold for the hundreds of thousands of children in state care. The number of abandoned or orphaned children has doubled in the past decade and tallies as many as 70,000. Most of them wind up in orphanages where they wait to be taken in by foster parents, or adopted. But both options are very new concepts in Russia and are steeped in stigma and controversy.

Bloggers get personal

Now more on the growing influence and power of Blogs. They're online journals, where readers can post their own comments. Yesterday, we examined political and technology blogs and the effect they're having on the mainstream media, and in business and politics. Today, in the second part of our series, we take a look at the more personal blogs on the internet, which can be powerful and important in a far more intimate way.

Indonesians commemorate Muslim day of sacrifice

Indonesia's President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, is visiting Tsunami affected Banda Aceh today to spend an important day on the Islamic calendar - the Muslim day of sacrifice - with the local people. The unofficial death toll from the Indian Ocean Tsunamis is now at 226,000 after Indonesia added those thought missing to its list of fatalities. The number of Indonesians dead now tallies more than 16,000.

Smith rules out leadership tilt

Opposition frontbencher Stephen Smith won't be a candidate for the job vacated this week by Mark Latham. Mr Smith, who is the MP for Perth and Shadow Industry Minister, announced his decision outside the West Australian parliament today.

Iceberg stuck off Antarctic coast

An icy crash off the coast of Antarctica appears to have been averted for the time being, with a 150-kilometre-long iceberg running aground in McMurdo Sound. Scientists had believed the iceberg - known as B15 A - was about to slam into the floating end of a glacier called the Drygalski Glacier Tongue. The latest satellite pictures indicate that the iceberg is stuck in shallow waters about five kilometres offshore. While it might have avoided a collision, it's now threatening to block supply lines for nearby scientific bases and thousands of local penguins.